Multilingual Virtual Tour

About the practice

This project was built on some previous experiences already implemented by the Museum. In particular, in 2019 the Museum had collaborated with some students from the degree course in Cinema and Media Engineering of the Politecnico di Torino to realize a 3D reproduction of one temporary exhibition. 

This Virtual Tour has been then developed during the pandemic, with the idea of creating material that could allow people to still enjoy the content of the Museum even if a new situation of lockdown presented. 

Thanks to the virtual tour it is possible to explore the exhibition rooms and the showcases hosted, “browsing” all the elements, from videos to individual exhibits, from any device. To realize it, the Museum has started from the work of its two official photographers, that usually work on taking pictures of the archeological finds of the collection for different projects. Thanks to their job and in particular to their expertise in using the 3D software, the project started.

The work has mainly been done by the photographers in collaboration with museum curators, who have worked on the contents of the tour, that focuses on two rooms of the Museum which are the flagships of the collection: it is possible to visit and explore content on the Tomb of Kha and Merit, and on Dar al-Medina.

The commands on the Virtual Tour are available in both English and Italian, while the content of the tour is available also in French, German and Arabic. Considering the low budget available, the translations have been mainly done thanks to the skills of already employed personnel of the Museum. 

The Virtual Tour has been launched officially through a virtual presentation to the press, and with a campaign on the official social media of the Museum.  

About the institution

The Virtual Tool is an immersive experience proposed by the Egyptian Museum in Turin, where it is possible to visit the two most important exhibition rooms of the collection, browsing all the elements of the tour, from videos to individual exhibits, from any device. The virtual your creates a 3D reproduction of the real exhibition.

Context

The aim of the Virtual Tour is to give the chance to visit some of its masterpieces even to people that aren’t physically in Turin.

The idea of this project was born during the pandemic. At first it was thought for the general public, composed by people who wished to visit it but couldn’t be in the city, and when Italy started a lockdown phase, this public extended to everyone, also in the city, who couldn’t enjoy the museum anymore.

Location

Turin, Piedmont region, Italy

Success factors

The website is completely available in both Italian and English, only some parts of it are available also in French, German, and Arabic.

Target audience

This best practice was addressed at the start to everyone who couldn’t visit the Museum due to lockdown restrictions in Italy, and it is now still online and addressed to everyone who can’t be in Turin and visit the city in person.

Sustainability

The virtual tour is a reality that can be easily adapted to several different contexts. Its added value consists especially in its accessibility to everyone; as it is in an online form, it can be accessible also for people that aren’t in the city, in periods of lockdowns, and so on. In addition, it makes the museum accessible also to every category of people (older people, people with impairments, people that don’t speak the language).

In addition, the realization of this project has allowed the Museum to repurpose some of the materials developed for other projects, that has been linked to this tour through hyperlinks, and it has allowed a longer life and larger use to  also other material.

Its realization needs though some expertise, especially about the use of the necessary software to create the virtual tour online

Digital tools

The realization of this project has been possible thanks to the presence, in the museum staff, of two professional photographers who have worked on both capturing the images of the art pieces, and on the use of specific software for the realization of the 3D animation. 

The original idea of the virtual tour for this museum came with the collaboration of students of the degree course in Cinema and Media Engineering of the Politecnico di Torino. 

Funding

The project has been financed only by the Museo Egizio itself, and on a low budget (around €5000).

Plans

This project is still active, as a testimony of the success it has had. The Museum has built on the experience made during the pandemic and has decided to keep increasing its presence on its own digital channels. 

In particular, the Museum is currently working on creating an adaptation of this Virtual Tour for children; two museum curators are adapting the content to the new target, while the Museum also works with an external body to create a videogame to play at the end of the Tour where they will be able to associate the old finds they have seen with modern objects.